The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television

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[t]he Fascinating True Story Of The Epic Tussle Between The Lone Inventor And The Mega-mogul Over The Most Influential Invention Of All Time. This Is A Riveting American Classic Of Independent Brilliance Versus Corporate Arrogance. -- James Bradley (flags Of Our Fathers)

publishers Weekly

for Pop History Chroniclers, The Story Of Philo T. Farnsworth Is Almost Too Good To Be True. He Conceived The Idea Of The Television Tube At Age 14 In 1921, Was Quashed By David Sarnoff's Rca And Died Embittered, Forgotten And With Only A Microscopic Fraction Of The Wealth That The Device Generated For Others. Schwartz (digital Darwinism) Sticks Closely To This Version Of Events, But The Slant Is Justified. While There Are Other Contenders To The Title Father Of Television, Schwartz's Cogent And Elegant Book Persuasively Argues Farnsworth's Case And Describes The Heartbreak That Defined His Life. As Schwartz Notes, Farnsworth Wholly Underestimated What He Was Up Against, I.e. Corporate-controlled Innovation. Patent Law Is At The Heart Of The Book, As It Both Affords Farnsworth His Crack At Immortality And Provided Rca With Myriad Legalistic Stratagems To Expand Its Monopoly. A Number Of Patent Rulings Went In Farnsworth's Favor, But That Made Remarkably Little Difference To Rca's Eventual Control Of The Medium. Given His Adversary, Farnsworth's Naïveté And Some Horrendous Luck Made His Defeat Virtually Inevitable. Apparently Intent On Distorting The Historical Record To Craft His Own Image For Posterity, Sarnoff May One Day Be Remembered -- Thank In Part To Books Like This -- Primarily As The Executive Who Crushed Farnsworth.